Insecticide



Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES INSECTICIDE Houston V. Claborn and Lloyd E. Smith, Washington, D. 6.; dedicated to the free use oi the People of the United States of America No Drawing.

Application July 22, 1937,

Serial No. 155,022

1 Claim. (01. 167-30) (Granted under the act of March- 3, 1883, as

amended April 39, 1928; 370 0. G. 75'!) This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act oi April 30.1928,

and the invention herein described and claimed, it patented, may be manufactured and used by I l or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes without the payment to us 01' any royalty thereon.

We hereby dedicate the invention herein described to the free use of the people of the United 10 States of America to take effect on the granting of a patent to us.

Our invention relates to improvements in materials for destroying or checking the growth or multiplication of living organisms, whether plant or animal, which are economically injurious to man.

An object of the invention is to provide a material suitable for use as an insecticide;

Another object of the invention is to provide a material which is relatively non-toxic to man and domestic animals when taken by mouth and which "can be used in place of lead arsenate and other arsenicals for destroying insects without leaving a harmful residue on fruits and vegetables.

We have found that the class of organic compounds known as fiuorene and derivatives thereof are effective in killing many species of insects whether applied externally or internally; that these organic compounds may be sprayed or dusted upon delicate vegetation without injuring it; that these materials are even more eiiective than lead arsenate and other commonly used insecticides and that they are relatively nontoxic to warm-blooded animals. This class of compounds may be represented by the general in which R and R. are aromatic nuclei in each of which 2 adjacent carbon atoms take part in forming a five membered carbon ring and R may be 2 hydrogen atoms; one hydrogen and one hydroxyl group; or oxygen. I

Some of the hydrogen atoms normally attached to R and B may be substituted or replaced by alkyl, cycloalkyi, aryl, heterocyclic nuclei, or halogen, nitro, amino, hydroxy, alkoxy or aryloxy groups. II R is hydrogen and hydroxyl or oxygen stituted by the types of organic radicals which react with these groups respectively.

These products may be reduced to impalpable powder by grinding and applied to vegetation either dry as a dust -or wet as a spray. The products being soluble in refined mineral oils, may be applied as a component of an oil emulsion spray. When applied as a spray in water it is desirable to incorporate an effective wetting agent such as one of the so-called sulphonated oils. These products may also be applied by dissolving them in acetone and pouring the acetone into water whereupon a fine colloidal precipitate is formed. This may be applied directly to plants or may be combined with a suitable wetting agent and then sprayed.

As examples of the toxicity of this class of compounds, it was found that- (1) 9-chlorofluorene at aconcentration of 4 pounds per hundred gallons oi. water gave approximately control of the codling moth.

(2) That 9-fiuorenone at a concentration of 10 parts per million of water gave a 91.3% kill of mosquito larvae.

(3) That 2-fiuoryl amine at a concentration of .40 parts per mfllion of water gave a 99% kill of mosquito larvae.

Other compounds in this class which have 4 proved to be toxic are for example; fluorene,

9,9-dichlorofiuorene, 9-fiuorenol, 2-fiuorenol, 2- nitro-9-fiuorenone, and Q-fiuorenol acetate. It is to be understood that these compounds are named specifically. only as examples and that it is apparent to anyone skilled in the art that a great many derivatives andYor substitution products are possible and fall within the class of organic compounds covered by this application.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

the hydroxyl and oxygen may be further sub- Anlinsecticide containing as its essential ac- 

